Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Tim McGraw - When The Stars Go Blue



Cover songs are a strange thing. Of course many people think immediately of hack musicians playing "Hotel California" at weddings and Bar Mitzvahs. Obviously, though, this is limiting the true potential of cover songs. By performing someone else's composition, you have the power to transform it; to reimagine it. A great song can be made even better in the hands of a master. Sometimes, when a talented performer puts their mind to it, even a mundane song can be made breathtaking. (Example: Ryan Adams' haunting take on Oasis' Wonderwall.)

The key to a succesful cover song, is when an artist with a recognizable sound brings elements of their own vision to the table, rather than simply reproducing the original ideas. In my personal opinion, at least some recognizable aspect of the source material should be present. The extent of the transformation is debatable, but I feel that a balance between a nod to originator and new creative ideas equals perfection.

Then, of course, there are the times when a great song, penned by a gifted scribe, are desecrated in ways that are simply painful to think about.



"When The Stars Go Blue" was originally written and recorded by the same Ryan Adams linked above, and it was included on his alt-country/sunshine pop masterpiece Gold. It is a somber, beautiful love song. I bought this album almost immediately after it was released, and I fell deeply in love with many of the songs on it for years. I was taken with "When The Stars Go Blue" instantly.

When The Corrs and Bono (won't he ever go away?) recorded it and famously performed it on MTV, (and it subsequently ran on VH1 on loop for what felt like eons), I was happy that Adams' work was getting exposure, though not thrilled about the take on it.

My distaste for the above mentioned cover is nothing compared to the ire that pulsed through my veins when I was first exposed to Tim McGraw's abomination. It contains precisely zero elements of a succesful cover song. McGraw brings absolutely nothing new to the table, the vocalization makes me embarrassed for him (and anyone foolhardy enough to purchase his material), and since the song had already been famously covered by someone else only a few years prior what is the motherfucking point here?!? Ryan Adams is an incredibly prolific songwriter, if McGraw wanted to record a take on one of his ballads, there are myriad choices. Why do a re-cover? It's redundant, and I'd like you to shut up now, Tim McGraw.

This is to be only the first of many instances of Contemporary Pop Country artists ruining perfectly good songs, but, (at least for this week) it is most assuredly the most infuriating.